Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Plus RiffTrax Live, December Movie Preview, Secret Files of Fairday Morrow, MST3K Movie Trivia Answers, and New Releases

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

My awesome co-hosts today are Sandra Hoover, Mark Koopmans, Doreen McGettigan, Megan Morgan, and Melodie Campbell!
 

First, I have to announce - CassaStar on sale! The first book in my Cassa Amazon best-selling trilogy is only .99 this week at Amazon. If you can help spread the word, that would be awesome.
Tweet:
Amazon Best-Seller CassaStar by Alex J. Cavanaugh on sale for .99 cents http://www.amazon.com/CassaStar-Alex-J-Cavanaugh-ebook/dp/B0045Y261I/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= #99cents #scifi

I’ve been tossing around my next story idea. I’d like to take on a couple more short stories, starting with one set in either universe I’ve created. I could continue with stories about the Dragon or follow one of the many secondary characters in the Cassa universe. (Any requests?)

After that, I just might try a little fantasy…

Be sure to visit other IWSG members and be watching January 6 when we announce the winners of the IWSG Anthology Contest!

The Wizard of Oz: Book vs. Movie

Hello all! We’re the DMS¬ Fairday Morrow, Lizzy Mackerville, and Marcus “aka Brocket the Rocket” from the new middle grade book THE SECRET FILES OF FAIRDAY MORROW, and we’re here to talk about The Wizard of Oz, the movie vs. the book. There are a lot of differences between them. The slippers are the most obvious. Everyone thinks of them as ruby slippers, because that’s how they’re portrayed in the movie, but in the book, they’re silver. Isn’t that crazy! All this time you thought of them as red. ;)
FAIRDAY: I have my grandma’s copy of The Wizard of Oz, which is very special to me. I remember her reading me the story when I was little, and how she did the characters voices perfectly. I will always cherish the book, BUT I also really like the movie. I mean, it’s just so fun! Plus, my little sister, Margo, belts out the lyrics to the movie soundtrack when it’s playing in the Morrow family cruiser.
LIZZY: I like the movie more than the book. The power of the ruby slippers being divided between each shoe in the book was cool, but I loved the Emerald City in the movie. I thought that part was awesome when they first walk in and the horses change colors and everything is sparkly green.

MARCUS: I haven’t read the book, so I can only talk about the movie, and it’s the best! The flying monkeys are AWESOME, and so is the part when Dorothy throws the water on the wicked witch and she melts. You have to wonder what the witch was made of to fall to pieces just by getting wet.

DMS top 10 favorite things about The Wizard of Oz/ the movie
1. Ruby Slippers
2. Flying Monkeys
3. Awesome music
4. Munchkin Land
5. Toto
6. Flying over a rainbow in general
7. Hot air balloons and wizards
8. The Emerald City
9. The wicked witch¬ needs a shout out.
10.Traveling in a bubble like Glinda.

- Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson

Find The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow at Penguin Random House
Find Jessica and Stephanie: website, blog, and on Twitter - @DMSfiles and @mrsrobinson229

Ninja News

Don’t forget RiffTrax Live is December 3 with an encore on December 15!
Santa and The Ice Cream Bunny is one of the most bizarre and popular RiffTrax titles of all time and a cheesy holiday classic. This rare version of the film includes a never before seen Jack and the Beanstalk story as told by Santa for an as yet unknown reason. Join Mike, Kevin, and Bill as they present it live on the big screen for the very first time!

New Releases:

Lovelorn Spirits by Christine Rains
Find it on Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, and Goodreads

She also has a short story in the just released 9 Tales Told in the Dark. #7

The Reader, Rifters Book 3 by M. Pax
With the rift closed for the season and no more monsters to fight, Daelin Long gets bored as librarian in the podunk town of Settler, Oregon.
Find it on Amazon, iBook, Barnes and Noble, and more!

Guardians of Telesma by River Fairchild
Find it on Amazon

Aced (Blocked #2) by Jennifer Lane
Find it on Amazon

A Clueless Woman by T.B. Markinson 
Find it on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, and Goodreads

The Water Holds No Scars: Fly Fishing Stories of Rivers & Rejuvenation
Edited by Dean K. Miller
Find it at Tulip Tree Publishing

Beverly Stowe McClure’s story, A Tiger-Sized Heart, will appear in an upcoming anthology.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat will be published February 9, 2016.

Movie Trivia Answers

All have been riffed by MST3K:
1 – 1975, eight legged creatures, Alan Hale Jr. in the cast – The Giant Spider Invasion
2 – 1955, sequel to fish man hit, Clint Eastwood’s first role – Revenge of the Creature
3 – 1959, starring James Best of Dukes of Hazzard fame, featuring giant rodents that were actually just dogs with carpets draped over their backs – The Killer Shrews
4 – 1957, directed by Bert I. Gordon, and featuring a really big bald guy – The Amazing Colossal Man
5 – 1965, first in a series of many, this Japanese monster gave Godzilla a run for his money - Gamera
6 – 1957, another Bert I. Gordon classic, starred Peter Graves, featured really large insects – The Beginning of the End

December Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for December! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

11 -

The Big Short
Four outsiders in the world of high-finance who predicted the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s decide to take on the big banks for their lack of foresight and greed.
Director: Adam McKay
Stars: Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Finn Wittrock, Karen Gillan
If you’re not already disgusted by our lending institutions, then just watch this film.

In the Heart of the Sea
Based on the 1820 event, a whaling ship is preyed upon by a sperm whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days, thousands of miles from home.
Director: Ron Howard
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw
Man versus Dick – the Real Story.




18 –

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
A continuation of the saga created by George Lucas and set thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
Director: J.J. Abrams
Stars: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver
Wait, there’s a new Star Wars film? Why haven’t I seen any advertising for it?




25 –

The Revenant
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Stars: Tom Hardy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter
The director of Birdman is at it again to bring you a fascinating yet most likely bizarre film spectacle.

The Hateful Eight
In post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunters try to find shelter during a blizzard but get involved in a plot of betrayal and deception. Will they survive?
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Channing Tatum, Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Tarantino on Christmas Day! Give the gift of gallons of bloodshed.

Concussion
In Pittsburgh, accomplished pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu uncovers the truth about brain damage in football players who suffer repeated concussions in the course of normal play.
Director: Peter Landesman
Stars: Will Smith, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Stephen Moyer
I bumped my head on a cabinet and I honestly can’t remember what this movie’s about…

Whoa! So, what should I write next? Grateful for any help I can get promoting CassaStar’s sale. Which do you prefer - Wizard of Oz book or movie? Seeing RiffTrax: Live? Picking up some awesome new books? How’d you do on the trivia? And what movies perk your interest this month?

RiffTrax Live This Thursday! Plus LG Keltner’s Silent Soliloquy, Movie Reviews, Question of the Month, This is How I Work Bloghop, and Ninja News

Special Reminders!

RiffTrax: Live – Sharknado 2 is this Thursday! If you’ve never seen a RiffTrax show, this is an awesome opportunity. Get your tickets HERE



Final tour stop! I am visiting Bull Spec and contributing to their column, The Hardest Part. My topic - Starting a New Story After Finishing a Series. It's live now!

LG Keltner and A Silent Soliloquy

First of all, I’d like to thank Alex for letting me stop by today. It’s awesome to be here, and I promise not to break anything! I’d like to talk a little bit today about how the films I watched as a kid influenced my writing.

When I was younger, I used to watch all kinds of movies with my dad while eating copious amounts of buttered popcorn. Anthology-style shows like Creepshow and Heavy Metal were among my favorites.

Fast forward to last year. I had a handful of stories and an idea. That might sound like a corny first line from an autobiography, but it’s true. I started to notice commonalities between the stories. Dystopian societies, personal secrets, feelings being used against people, etc. Before I knew it, they were all coming together in my mind, and I had to write the story.

A Silent Soliloquy isn’t exactly an anthology story. In fact, I’m not quite sure how to describe it. There’s a narrator, and it is without a doubt her story. The other stories that have been woven into the narrative are her own accounts of the lives of others. While my story may not be quite like films like Creepshow and Heavy Metal, I credit them with its existence. Watching those shows when I was younger allowed my brain to see the connections that were there and gave me the courage to make the story happen. They infected me with their creative genius.

I’ll take an infection of creative genius over a real-life zombie apocalypse or super flu any day.

Now, who has the popcorn? I’m hungry.

Purchase Links: Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords
Add it on Goodreads
Find L.G.- Blog, Twitter, and Facebook

Ninja News

Thanks for all the congratulations for making The Best Sci-Fi Books’ The 21 Best Space Opera Books. I still can’t believe CassaStar was number four!

Special thanks to my co-hosts and all the participants of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The heartfelt posts spoke for themselves and if you’re not part of this, please consider joining us.
Remember the point of the group is to encourage one another, so please visit others on the list and return comments of those who visit you.
I’ll be looking for co-hosts for the fall, so if you’d like to help out, let me know. Every co-host has said they really enjoyed the experience – trust me, it is a lot of fun on the hosting side!

Out now!

The Miracle Girl by TB Markinson

Purchase it at Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Amazon CA

Movie Reviews

Dracula Untold
With poor reviews, I thought it would be atrocious, but it was much better than anticipated. Just don’t put too much thought into the history or it will fall apart.
Luke Evans (Bard in The Hobbit) was really good in the role.
It was a nice twist to turn Dracula into an empathetic character just trying to save his family and country. Also had some good action sequences.
Worth a rental!

Zombeavers
The title should’ve began with ‘Muppets After Dark’…
Granted it’s supposed to be a comedy, but they could’ve put more than $1.99 into the special effects.
The fact that it was trying to be funny both helped and hurt the film. And there was nothing horrific about it.
Did I mention the puppet beavers…?
I’d wait until RiffTrax got a hold of this one.

Question of the Month

Hosted by Michael at A Life Examined.
 
"What are three things that you'd do tomorrow if you weren't blocked by fear?"

Quit my job.
Join a rock band and hit the road.

And sorry, Michael – I could only think of two things!

This is How I Work Bloghop

Hosted by MsMariah at A Space Blogyssey

What apps can you not live without? ITunes and Google Maps
What is your favorite blogging app? I just use Google
What gadgets (besides your phone) you can't live without? My iPad and my guitar pedals
What lifehacks make your life easier? Metal music is my lifehack – put it on and I’m a working machine!
Where do you get your news? USA Today
What are your favorite social media apps? Twitter
How do you blog? Once a week posting and lots of visiting
What is your day job? I work in web design, graphics, and technical editing. And I get to blog from work!


What sparked one of your book ideas? Can you co-host the IWSG this fall? Have you seen Dracula Untold or Zombeavers? How would you answer Michael’s question? What are some of your favorite apps? And who else is going to see RiffTrax: Live on Thursday?

Don’t forget to visit Bull Spec!

A to Z Challenge – T – Cult Classics: This is Spinal Tap, Tremors, Triumph, The Time Machine, and More! Plus Divinity: Original Sin Review and Judges Needed

A to Z Challenge – Cult Classics – T

Movies-Music-Sci-fi Book-Bloggers-Dragon Term

Movies –

Tremors
This 1990 film harkens back to the classic monster movie. Starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and Reba McEntire, it spawned three sequels and a series, and became a huge hit on video.

This is Spinal Tap
Directed by Rob Reiner, this rock mockumentary debuted in 1984. Selected for preservation by the USA National Film Registry, it became a huge hit, and many musicians said it hit close to home. The IMDB ranking for this movie was adjusted to eleven in honor of the film.

Time Bandits
This quirky 1981 British film featured an all-star cast, including Sean Connery and John Cleese. Directed by Terry Gilliam, it was the first of the director’s Trilogy of Imagination.

Music –

Triumph – Allied Forces
The fifth album from the Canadian trio, it was their first mainstream success. It featured the hits Magic Power and Fight the Good Fight.

Science Fiction Book –

The Time Machine – H. G. Wells
Published in 1895, Wells established the idea of a time machine. It’s inspired numerous movies, radio programs, comics and more. It’s likely inspired more works than any other story.

Bloggers –

Tara Tyler
Want to learn some fun stuff about marketing, organizing, kids, and everything in between? Need some tips, advice, or just a friendly smile? Then you need to follow the delightful author Tara!

TB Markinson at Making My Mark
Enjoy a variety of genres? Want some tips from authors who have gone before you? Then visit English lass TB today!

Teresa Powell Coltrin at Journaling Woman
Enjoy spiritual reflections on Sunday? Want to follow the adventures of Millie the dog? Get some writing tips? The you need to check out the wonderful Teresa!

Tonja Drecker at Kidbits
Want to learn more about the author journey? Learn about life on a farm? Meet someone who is uber-supportive? Then visit the joyful Tonja today!

Dragon of the Stars Term –

Tarquin
One of the oldest battleships in the Hyrathian fleet, the Tarquin saw the Dragon in action. Her age does not help her when the other races declare war against the Hyrathians though.

Dragon of the Stars is out now!
Check out the site What Are the Kargrandes? for clues as to how they tie into the story.

Calling Speculative Fiction Authors!

Last fall I got to judge a short story contest for high school students and it was a blast. (Bold New Worlds is available now.) Well, judges are needed for this year’s volume of the anthology.
Charity Bradford states:
I'm ready to start looking for the 2015 Judges. Judging will take place during the month of November. During the contest your photo, bio and links to books and webpages will be up on Bold New Worlds. You'll also be listed in the 2015 BNW Anthology as a judge.
If you are a speculative fiction author, see her site for details.

Computer Game Review

Divinity: Original Sin

This computer game was funded by a Kickstarter campaign.
It’s a cross between Icewind Dale and Dungeon Seige. It’s old school – a free roaming with turn based combat RPG. You have the traditional three-quarter view looking down on your party of four and it can be either single or multi-player.
The main quest has dozens of side quests. When you add them all up, there’s at least a hundred hours of play.
If you have the patience and aren’t all hack and slash, you can get lost for months with this game.
A lot of fun – highly recommended!

And have you signed up for the Blood, Boobs, and Carnage Blogfest yet?
Sign up – you know you want to!!

Fan of Spinal Tap? (This one goes to eleven.) Remember Triumph? (No, not the Insult Comic Dog.) Met those bloggers yet? Interested in judging for the anthology? Played any good computer games lately? And are you sad or excited the Challenge ends in one week…?

And if you missed it yesterday, I visited Donna K. Weaver and talked about building a strong online presence while maintaining privacy.

RiffTrax Interview with Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett! Plus What Are the Kargrandes, ColorIQ Challenge, Movie Trivia Answers, and Ninja News

Last week saw the release of RiffTrax Live: Sharknado. I was honored when Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett agreed to answer a few questions. These guys have been my idols since Mystery Science Theater 3000 and have been a source of laughter for over twenty years.

Without further ado, I present RiffTrax’s Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy!

1. I believe that BBC (Blood, Boobs, and Carnage) is the benchmark for cinematic greatness. What drew you to the greatness that is Sharknado?

BILL: Like you, the British Broadcasting Corporation.

KEVIN: The Three I’s: Inconceivability, Incoherence, and Ian.

2. RiffTrax is so freaking awesome and you riff such a variety of films, both good and bad. Are there any movies you feel are untouchable?

BILL: Of course. We would seem like monsters if we tried to make funny out of SCHINDLER’S LIST, HOTEL RWANDA, etc.

KEVIN: I’d say Schindler’s List is one we’ll never do.

3. Do you derive any perverse pleasure from watching your cast mates screw up their lines at a live show?

KEVIN: I derive even more pleasure in the artful ways that they recover and make the show even funnier for it.

BILL: I am too busy watching myself screw up lines.

4. What’s the strangest cosplay outfit you’ve seen at one of your live shows?

BILL: Someone actually pulled off a strange-but-wonderful version of the sharknado itself at our Sharknado live show. Big funnel cloud with sharks in it. A+!

KEVIN: I don’t think there’s a Torgo costume that doesn’t qualify as strange.

5. Besides Sharknado, are there any other ‘Nados’ you’d like to see the SyFy Channel ruin? Squidnado? Cownado? Scissorsnado?

KEVIN: Ralph Nado. UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED.

BILL: NicCageNado.

Thanks, Bill and Kevin! Special thanks to Jeff at RiffTrax who made it happen.

What Are the Kargrandes?

New clue today at What Are the Kargrandes? This is clue number seven – new clues every Monday until the release of Dragon of the Stars on April 7.

Sample Tweets for this week:

What are the Kargrandes? Seventh clue up this week- http://whatarethekargrandes.com/ #whatarethekargrandes #scifi @alexjcavanaugh

Solve the mystery by April 7–what are the Kargrandes? Animals? Weapons? http://whatarethekargrandes.com/ #whatarethekargrandes @alexjcavanaugh

And big thanks to Bob at Beauty in Ruins for his review of Dragon this week - It's still as fun and exciting as his first forays into space opera, but the darker themes and deeper level of introspection absolutely elevate the novel to a new level.

Ninja News

I’m at the A to Z Blog today, talking about the advantages of a theme during the Challenge.

Ella is a very talented artist and writer. She just had two of her hearts published in The Stampers' Sampler.


Julie Dao landed an agent - Tamar Rydzinski of the Laura Dail Literary Agency!

New Releases –

Apocalypse Weird - Immunity by EE Giorgi
When greed, mayhem, and a deadly virus collide on the high deserts of New Mexico, it's Outbreak meets World War Z in the deserts of the Apocalypse Weird. One of five books launching today from Wonderment Media.

Cassie and The Wild Cat: Host A Ghost by Pat Hatt
Find it on Amazon

Love, Lattes, and Mutants by Sandra Cox
Finding love is hard, even when you aren’t a mutant.
Find it on Amazon. Barnes and Noble, and Kobo

A Woman Ignored by TB Markinson
Find it on Amazon

Stephen Hayes has TWO stories in On SEX: 69 Hilarious Stories About Everything SEX.
You can read one of them HERE

Online ColorIQ Challenge

JE O’Neil posted about the Online ColorIQ Challenge. This was my score:

What did you get?

Movie Trivia Answers

Sorry, forgot to post them last week!
1 – Who played Erik in Erik the Viking? (1989) Tim Robbins
2 – What comedian voiced Reepicheep the mouse in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian? (2008) Eddie Izzard
3 – Who voiced Hiccup’s father, Stoick, in How to Train Your Dragon? (2010) Gerard Butler
4 – Who played Gimli In LOTR: Return of the King? (2003) John Rhys-Davies
5 – Who voiced Draco the dragon in Dragonheart? (1996) Sean Connery

Whoa!!!! Are you a fan of RiffTrax or MST3K? Did you pick up their version of Sharknado? (It’s 8.5 stars on the IMDB – the original version is only 3.3.) Planned your Challenge Theme yet? How’d you do with the Color Challenge? How about the trivia? And have you figured out the Kargrandes yet…?

Be sure to visit the A to Z Blog.

RiffTrax Live: Santa Claus – the Experience! Plus Writing Habits, BOTB Results, and Ninja News

I am visiting the incredibly talented, successful, and uber-resourceful Elizabeth S. Craig today. I’m discussing the ultimate in networking opportunities and the new IWSG book. Please stop by!

RiffTrax Live – Santa Claus!

Last week the RiffTrax crew – Mike, Bill, and Kevin – took on a film for the holidays: Santa Claus.

It was no ordinary holiday movie, though. This Mexican film was directed by someone who grew up in the carny business – and it shows in the weirdness of the story. What little story exists, anyway. The devil sends his minion Pitch to thwart Santa’s plans, but fortunately Santa has senile old Merlin and creepy mechanical reindeer to help him. (Folks, you can’t make this stuff up unless you’re on some really good drugs.)

As always, it was hilarious, and Mike, Bill, and Kevin had no trouble making fun of the film. If you’ve never seen a broadcast of the show, you need to catch the next one!

Blogger buddy Susan Kane got to go see the show as well last Thursday, which was her birthday!

Before the show, they present a series of slides. Here are some for your enjoyment! 

Ninja News

At the A to Z Blog today is Cat Starr from Astral Traveller and her theme of travels around the world.

This Wednesday, the IWSG site welcomes the amazing Sylvia Ney as she discusses the benefits of writing for small markets.

For her IWSG post last week, Chrys Fey wrote the most awesome and hilarious poem, ‘Twas the Night Before IWSG Day!

Thanks to everyone who downloaded the IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond!
And it's finally free on Amazon!

And thanks to MJ Joachim who review the IWSG book last week.

New Releases

Blogvengers, Zombies with Powers
By Pat Hatt
Pat has been featuring this twisted tale of cats, zombies, Darzin, and his blogging buddies (including me) on his site for the past few weeks – and it’s hilarious! Pick it up on Amazon

Digging In, second in the Trench Raiders series
By Sean McLachlan
Pick it up on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Smashwords

Out today!
Claudia Must Die
By TB Markinson
Amazon and Goodreads

Battle of the Bands

The results of last week’s Battle of the Bands and the song Cars, with my vote going to Fear Factory:

Gary Numan - 21
Fear Factory (featuring Gary Numan) – 12

Gary Numan beat… Gary Numan. Ironic, huh?

Writing Habits – Before and After

Last week, Rachna Chhabria posted about not having enough time to write. She noted ‘I read somewhere that a writer gets the maximum amount of time to write their first book, after that there are sundry things occupying a writer’s life space: book tours, book signing events, author interactive sessions etc.’

That got me to thinking about the way I write now as opposed to pre-publication. It took me almost a year to write my first book. (Not counting edits.) The three books since that time have taken two to four months for the first draft.

And of course now, I do have author duties and an online presence that takes a chunk of my time.

Looking back, I realized that first book was written in sporadic, stolen chunks of time. The other three were written during dedicated blocks of time. The big difference, despite the extra demands on my time, was my focus. I knew I had to get them done and set aside three-five hours to write every single night no matter what.

So, that’s how my writing habits have changed. Have yours changed?

Anyone else catch RiffTrax last week? (Or had the misfortune of seeing that film without RiffTrax’s help?) Catch Chrys’ post? Downloaded the IWSG book? Getting some new books? And have your writing habits changed?

Don’t forget to visit Elizabeth S. Craig!

And not posting again until next Monday, so see you then. 

And - switched to embedded comments to get rid of stupid word verification.